In 2005, Forbes ranked Mittaw as de dird-richest person in de worwd, making him de first Indian citizen to be ranked in de top ten in de pubwication's annuaw wist of de worwd's richest peopwe.[8][9] In 2007, Mittaw was considered to be de richest Asian person in Europe.[10][11] He was ranked de sixf-richest person in de worwd by Forbes in 2011, but dropped to 82nd pwace in March 2015.[12] He is awso de "57f-most powerfuw person" of de 72 individuaws named in Forbes' "Most Powerfuw Peopwe" wist for 2015.[13] His daughter Vanisha Mittaw's wedding was de second-most expensive in recorded history.[14]

Mittaw studied at Shri Dauwatram Nopany Vidyawaya, Cawcutta from 1957 to 1964. He graduated from St. Xavier's Cowwege, Cawcutta, wif a B.Com degree in de first cwass from de University of Cawcutta. His fader, Mohanwaw Mittaw, ran a steew business, Nippon Denro Ispat.[18] In 1976, due to de curb of steew production by de Indian government, de 26-year-owd Mittaw opened his first steew factory PT Ispat Indo in Sidoarjo, East Java, Indonesia.[19][20] Untiw de 1990s, de famiwy's main assets in India were a cowd-rowwing miww for sheet steews in Nagpur and an awwoy steews pwant near Pune. Today, de famiwy business, incwuding a warge integrated steew pwant near Mumbai, is run by his younger broders Pramod Mittaw and Vinod Mittaw, but Lakshmi has no connection wif it.[21]

In 2008 de Mittaws made a donation of £15 miwwion to Great Ormond Street Hospitaw in London, de wargest private contribution de hospitaw had ever received. The donation was used to hewp fund deir new faciwity, de Mittaw Chiwdren's Medicaw Centre.[25]

Mittaw successfuwwy empwoyed Marek Dochnaw's consuwtancy to infwuence Powish officiaws in de privatisation of PHS steew group, which was Powand's wargest. Dochnaw was water arrested for bribing Powish officiaws on behawf of Russian agents in a separate affair.[26]

In 2007, de Powish government said it wanted to renegotiate de 2004 sawe to ArceworMittaw.[27]

Empwoyees of Mittaw have accused him of awwowing "swave wabour" conditions after muwtipwe fatawities in his mines.[28] During December 2004, twenty-dree miners died in expwosions in his mines in Kazakhstan caused by fauwty gas detectors.

In 2002 Pwaid CymruMPAdam Price obtained a wetter written by Tony Bwair to de Romanian Government in support of Mittaw's LNM steew company, which was in de process of bidding to buy Romania's state-owned steew industry.[29][30][31] This revewation caused controversy, because Mittaw had given £125,000 to de British Labour Party de previous year. Awdough Bwair defended his wetter as simpwy "cewebrating de success" of a British company, he was criticised because LNM was registered in de Dutch Antiwwes and empwoyed wess dan 1% of its workforce in de UK.[31] LNM was a "major gwobaw competitor of Britain's own struggwing steew industry".[32]

Bwair's wetter hinted dat de privatisation of de firm and sawe to Mittaw might hewp smoof de way for Romania's entry into de European Union.[29] It awso had a passage, removed just prior to Bwair's signing of it, describing Mittaw as "a friend".[31]

Mittaw had emerged as a weading contender to buy and seww Barcways Premiership cwubs Wigan and Everton. However, on 20 December 2007 it was announced dat de Mittaw famiwy had purchased a 20 per cent sharehowding in Queens Park Rangers footbaww cwub joining Fwavio Briatore and Mittaw's friend Bernie Eccwestone.[33] As part of de investment Mittaw's son-in-waw, Amit Bhatia, took a pwace on de board of directors. The combined investment in de struggwing cwub sparked suggestions dat Mittaw might be wooking to join de growing ranks of weawdy individuaws investing heaviwy in Engwish footbaww and emuwating simiwar benefactors such as Roman Abramovich.[34]

On 19 February 2010, Briatore resigned as QPR chairman, and sowd furder shares in de cwub to Eccwestone, making Eccwestone de singwe wargest sharehowder.[35]

Mittaw purchased de Irish Steew pwant based in Cork, Irewand, from de government for a nominaw fee of £1 miwwion, uh-hah-hah-hah. Three years water, in 2001, it was cwosed, weaving 400 peopwe redundant. Subseqwent environmentaw issues at de site have been a cause for criticism. The government tried to sue in de High Court to have him pay for de cwean-up of Cork Harbour but faiwed. The cwean up was expected to cost €70 miwwion, uh-hah-hah-hah.[36]

Mittaw bought No. 9A Pawace Greens, Kensington Gardens, formerwy de Phiwippines Embassy, for £70 miwwion in 2008 for his daughter Vanisha Mittaw who is married to Amit Bhatia, a businessman and phiwandropist. Mittaw drew a wavish "vegetarian reception" for Vanisha in de Pawace of Versaiwwes, France.[41]

In 2005, he awso bought a cowoniaw bungawow for $30 miwwion at No. 22, Dr APJ Abduw Kawam Road, New Dewhi, one of de most excwusive streets in India, occupied by embassies and biwwionaires, and rebuiwt it as a house.[43]

In December 2013, Mittaw's niece Shrishti Mittaw got married in a dree-day cewebration dat is said to have brought Barcewona to a standstiww and cost up to £50 miwwion, uh-hah-hah-hah. Some 200 butwers, cooks and secretaries were reportedwy fwown into Spain from India and Thaiwand whiwe de 500 guests were made to sign confidentiawity agreements.[44]

According to de Sunday Times Rich List 2016, Mittaw and his famiwy had an estimated personaw net worf of GB£7.12 biwwion,[45] a decrease of $2.08 biwwion on de previous year.[46] Meanwhiwe, in 2016 Forbes magazine's annuaw biwwionaires wist assessed estimated Mittaw's weawf in 2016 at as de 135f-weawdiest biwwionaire wif a net worf of US$8.4 biwwion, uh-hah-hah-hah.[47] Mittaw's net worf peaked in 2008, assessed by The Sunday Times at £27.70 biwwion,[48] and by Forbes at US$45.0 biwwion, and rated as de fourf-weawdiest individuaw in de worwd.[49]